Playoffs vs Traditional Bowl Format

Topic

@Coker is a big critic of the Playoff and is very vocal on Twitter about his disdain for it. Personally I like it despite some of the glaring flaws (mainly the scheduling parity across conferences). If there was no playoff this year, we could have Ohio State, Clemson, and LSU all finishing undefeated and all hell would break out when the final polls came out. What’s everyones thoughts on the current structure and do you want to see it expanded to 8 teams?

Replies

Expansion from here is going to destroy CFB and turn it into the NFL.

Either BCS or 4 is best system. You at least get a playoff but you preserve tradition of Rose Bowl and other major bowls.

An auto-bid playoff is fucking stupid. So if Virginia upset Clemson then they’d get in the playoff? The pac-12 champ of last 2 years lost to Auburn who was SEC #4 or #5.

The reality is the committee has picked the right teams every single time. The claim they are biased against the Pac-12 is false. The media wanted us out in 2016 but we were selected as we should have been.

If they move to 8 teams what will happen is the SEC will get 3/4 teams in and the shitty conference champs will get ass blasted every year. Also, it will greatly diminish the importance of the regular season.

Expansion will happen and it will be a disaster for the majority of CFB fans.

I used to think an 8 team format would fix all the issues but I’m now in the keep it at 4 camp. My only concern is it will continue to discourage teams to schedule big non-conf matchups because the regular season record is so important. If Oregon played a team like Ok State or Indiana instead of Auburn (and won), they would have a strong argument to get in ahead of OU.

Woof wrote:

I used to think an 8 team format would fix all the issues but I’m now in the keep it at 4 camp. My only concern is it will continue to discourage teams to schedule big non-conf matchups because the regular season record is so important. If Oregon played a team like Ok State or Indiana instead of Auburn (and won), they would have a strong argument to get in ahead of OU.

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Even if Oregon only had 1 loss it would still be really close because of their missing Utah in the regular season.

Sagarin has OU schedule at #13 w/ Oregon at #35. Remove Auburn from that and Oregon’s schedule would have been 50+.

So this specific year Oregon needed Auburn game because they missed what would have been their toughest league game.

In 2016 we could afford the shitty non-con because the conference was top heavy. If we missed USC that year then we only get in if we go 13-0.

I like 4 for the same reason as the others. It makes more regular season games matter. LSU/Alabama this year would have been for seeding. Same for SEC Champ game. If Wisconsin doesn’t kick the can versus Illinois, Big Ten Champ game as well, etc, etc.

I also know that the increased tv money going from 4-8 teams will in the end be too much for the NCAA to pass up.

We certainly shouldn’t expand, and if we can’t contract we should keep it at 4. But they will expand because $$$. The cat was let out of the bag with the playoff and we ain’t ever going back until CFB is like the NFL.

Evolve or be swallowed up

CFB isn’t going backwards … that’s a pipe dream

The $$$ is only going to be more vast and the requirements for players/teams are also only going to increase because of the laws/legislation coming down and whatever the future adjustments the NCAA makes

The bigger issue to me at this point is that the have’s and have not’s are only going to get more vast. How long before you have a Wazzu that looks at the cost of college athletics and it no longer makes sense at the scale of what it will cost? Each conference has a handful of programs that fall into this range.

I do think at some point you will see a further break of CFB into a 32 program top end and the remainder plus Group of 5 schools into another group which is still very marketable with high end players that will be playing in the NFL

Everything today is have’s vs have not’s … when the have’s realize that they get more $$$ by combining their resources you will see the next wave of change

8 won’t solve anything. Klatt was on Softy last week and made the point that at 8 you’ll still have an argument for 3 or 4 teams, but for 8th spot and not the 4th. Basically you’ll be figuring out which two loss team to put in rather than 1 loss.

Besides money, I think it makes sense to go to 8 teams, could argue 12…but not necessary. To think that the NY6 bowls still have value is an antiquated belief.

Was the Dawgs season last year any different by losing the rosebowl? What matters is making the final four.

At this point we have a power 5 and only 4 teams make the playoff. So already a conference championship is meaningless for 1 conference and in some years 2 conference when they gift the SEC 2 teams.

Look at the lower tier, they go with a 16 team playoff, is that meaningless?

Look at basketball, baseball, volleyball, and most major college athletics. They all decide a championship through play, not a committee.

To say that things are special or different for D1 (or whatever it’s called now) is 1990’s thinking.

I’m 100% in support of expansion as it makes sense from a standpoint of teams scheduling more in season games of importance to increase their value to the committe. If you look at hoops, SOS is a key component to making the tourney.

Force the SEC to schedule harder games, make week 1-4 for most conferences of value vs scheduling an ABC schedule.

Winning your conference regardless of record should mean something because their are a million factors that reside in that conclusion. So what if Wisky or Virginia would have won…those are meaningless points.

I hate Oregon as the rest of you, but to not give them a chance is against all that is right in sports. Play the game, not the analytics.

Yes the B1G vs Pac12 Rosebowl would go by the waste side, but deciding things on the field should be the ultimate factor. With 130 plus teams, do we really get a true picture of who’s the best during the regular season?

I think it expands regardless of the traditionalist feelings, but I see it as something of the greater good and to add excitement to the end of the year.

I’d like to see a combination of home field and the existing bowls (NY6) to be the future. 8 (home field), final 4/2 (NY6 bowls)…and maybe Larry can negotiate a Championship in Shanghai or BEIJING.

I stand with ChinaHusky on this one!

EXPAND EXPAND EXPAND!

ChinaHusky wrote:

Besides money, I think it makes sense to go to 8 teams, could argue 12…but not necessary. To think that the NY6 bowls still have value is an antiquated belief.

Was the Dawgs season last year any different by losing the rosebowl? What matters is making the final four.

At this point we have a power 5 and only 4 teams make the playoff. So already a conference championship is meaningless for 1 conference and in some years 2 conference when they gift the SEC 2 teams.

Look at the lower tier, they go with a 16 team playoff, is that meaningless?

Look at basketball, baseball, volleyball, and most major college athletics. They all decide a championship through play, not a committee.

To say that things are special or different for D1 (or whatever it’s called now) is 1990’s thinking.

I’m 100% in support of expansion as it makes sense from a standpoint of teams scheduling more in season games of importance to increase their value to the committe. If you look at hoops, SOS is a key component to making the tourney.

Force the SEC to schedule harder games, make week 1-4 for most conferences of value vs scheduling an ABC schedule.

Winning your conference regardless of record should mean something because their are a million factors that reside in that conclusion. So what if Wisky or Virginia would have won…those are meaningless points.

I hate Oregon as the rest of you, but to not give them a chance is against all that is right in sports. Play the game, not the analytics.

Yes the B1G vs Pac12 Rosebowl would go by the waste side, but deciding things on the field should be the ultimate factor. With 130 plus teams, do we really get a true picture of who’s the best during the regular season?

I think it expands regardless of the traditionalist feelings, but I see it as something of the greater good and to add excitement to the end of the year.

I’d like to see a combination of home field and the existing bowls (NY6) to be the future. 8 (home field), final 4/2 (NY6 bowls)…and maybe Larry can negotiate a Championship in Shanghai or BEIJING.

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Couldn’t disagree more.

Auto-bids do not make sense because conference quality and size varies too much.

The other sports are a lot different. What is done in basketball or volleyball has no bearing on college football.

Dude, the majority of SEC teams play the hardest schedules by far. Their 4th/5th best team beat the Pac-12 champ this year and last.

8 teams is going to reduce the excitement. Majority of extra playoff games in most seasons will be blowouts. In the process, you’ve destroyed the regular season. Those games will be less meaningful and draw less viewers and fans.

BTW, Oregon had its chance. They blew it against Auburn and then lost to a mediocre ASU team. Why in the hell should they get a shot at the NC? So we deserved a shot at the NC last year after 3 losses?

College football is totally unique. Who cares what the other sports do?

I highly doubt we will get a 32 team “pro style” division in college because most schools are public universities in conferences with mostly public universities. This means they are subject to politics.

These rivalries are deeply important to the game and you can bet people would raise holy hell in state legislatures and on university presidents to preserve state and regional rivalries between haves and have nots.

What if UW split off from WSU to join the higher league? The UW president would probably never do it and most Washingtonians would agree.

College football is not like any other sport, even any other college sport.

I STAND with Chest on this one now!

It’s never enough is the problem. When you go to 8 eventually we’ll have cries of it needs to be 16. Once at 16 and even to 8 the regular season loses meaning.

College football was the one sport that had major regular season games that no other sport can manufacture.

With 8 and certainly with 16 all that is dead.